Copolymerization of carbon dioxide and N-phenylethylenimine

Copolymerizations of carbon dioxide and N-phenylethylenimine were carried out with the use of various catalysts and solvents. The infrared spectrum of the polymer produced showed the characteristic absorption peak at 1730–1735 cm^?1 based on the urethane linkage. The content of the urethane linkage decreased in the following order: Mn(acac)₂ ≈ MnCl₂4H₂O > Al(OBu)₃ > Ti(OBu)₄ > ZnCl₂ ? BF₃OEt₂ = VCl₃ = Mn(acac)₃ = FeCl₃ = CrCl₃ · 6H₂O = 0. The manganase (bivalent) catalyst in combination with n-hexane solvent was found to be the best system for the copolymerization, and this system received detailed study. Generally speaking, both the polymer yield and the content of the urethane linkage increased with increasing content of carbon dioxide in the feed as well as with increasing polymerization temperature. From the fractionation of polymer in methanol, it was found that the produced polymer is composed of both homopolymer of N-phenylethylenimine and copolymer of N-phenylethylenimine and carbon dioxide. The content of the urethane linkage of the copolymer thus fractionated was as high as about 80%.     

Tomato new sapogenols, isoesculeogenin A and esculeogenin B

Two novel sapogenols, isoesculeogenin A (1) and esculeogenin B (2) of steroidal alkaloid glycosides, lycoperoside F and esculeoside B, respectively, isolated from the ripe tomato have been characterized as (5alpha,22R,23R,25S)-3beta,23,27-trihydroxyspirosolane and (5alpha,22S,23R,25S)-22,26-epimino-16beta,23-epoxy-3beta,23,27-trihydroxycholestane, respectively.     

Highly active MgCl2‐supported CpMCl3 (M = Ti,Zr) catalysts for ethylene polymerization

Monocyclopentadienyl compounds, CpMCl₃ (M = Ti, Zr) supported on activated MgCl₂ were used for the polymerizations of ethylene in the presence of methylaluminoxane (MAO) or a common alkylaluminium as a cocatalyst. By supporting CpMCl₃ on MgCl₂, the catalyst activity was increased drastically to show high activity similar to MgCl₂‐supported TiCl₄ catalysts. The activity of the CpZrCl₃ /MgCl₂ catalyst was higher than that of the CpTiCl₃/MgCl₂ one. Both catalysts gave polymers with high molecular weight (M_w) and broad molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n) in comparison with the corresponding soluble half‐metallocene catalysts.     

Development of high ductility and tensile properties by a two-stage draw of poly(acrylonitrile): Effect of molecular weight

Ultradrawing of atactic poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) was investigated for a M_v series, ranging 8.0 × 10⁴–2.3 × 10⁶. Samples for the draw were prepared from 0.5–30 wt % solutions of PAN in N,N′-dimethylformamide. The solutions were converted to a gel by quenching from 100 to 0°C. The dried gel films were initially drawn uniaxially by solid-state coextrusion (first-stage draw) to an extrusion draw ratio (EDR) of 16, followed by further tensile draw at 100–250°C (second-stage draw). The maximum total draw ratio (DR_t,max) and tensile properties achieved by two-stage draw increased remarkably with sample M_v. Other factors affecting ductility were the solution concentration from which gel was made and the second-stage draw temperature. The effects of these variables became more prominent with increasing M_v. The temperature for optimum second-stage draw increased with sample M_v. Both the initial gel and the drawn products showed no small-angle X-ray long period scattering maximum, suggesting the absence of a chain-folded lamellae structure, which had been found in our previous study on the drawing of nascent PAN powder. The chain orientation function (f_c) and sample density (ρ_s) increased rapidly with DR_t in the lower range (DR_t < 30) and approached constant values of f_c = 0.980–0.996 and ρ_s = 1.177–1.181 g/cm³, respectively, at higher DR_t > 30–100. The tensile modulus also showed a similar increase with DR_t. The tensile strength increased linearly with DR_t, reaching a maximum, and decreased slightly at yet higher DR_t. The highest modulus of 28.5 GPa and strength of 1.6 GPa were achieved with the highest M_v of 2.3 × 10⁶. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci B: Polym Phys 36: 629–640, 1998     

Character Values of Finite Groups

The aim of this paper is to describe simple methods to distribute the ordinary irreducible characters of finite groups into p-blocks and calculate the other character values from part of the values of the ordinary irreducible characters for p-blocks.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 20C20